Book speim



(No Model.) I v J. H. SHAW.

DOOR SPRING. No. 322,649. Patented July 21, 1885.

UNITE "STATES:

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. sHAw, or NEW HAVEN, connncrrcur, ASSIGNOR To snncnnr & 00., or SA E PLACE.

DOOR-SPRING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,649, dated July 21, 1885.

Application filed June 1, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. SHAW, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Door Springs; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1,-an elevation of the barrel and its parts connected; Fig. 2, a top view of the same; Fig. 3, a transverse section, cutting on line a: m of Fig. 4; and Fig. 4 a vertical central section through the barrel and hub, showing a side view of the spindle, spring, and collar.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of springs which consist of a spiral spring arranged within a cylindrical barrel and adapted to be fixed rigidly to the door or to the lintel, as the case may be, combined with a spindle arranged through the barrel, so as to engage the spring with a lever extending from the spindle and hinged to a second lever, which in its turn is hinged to a fixed bracket, so that the opening of the door,

through the said lever, causes the spindle to rotate against the resistance of the spring, so

that the reaction of the spring will close the door, the object of the invention being a construction which will easily permit the adjustment of the spring to a greater or less degree of force; and it consists in the construction as hereinafter described, and more particularly recited in the claim.

A represents the barrel of cylindrical shape to receive the spring, said barrel being provided with suitable ears or flanges, a, by which it may be secured in place.

B is one lever, which is constructed with a hub, O. This hub has upon one faceatubular extension, D, corresponding to the internal.

diameter of the barrel, (so as to set therein,) the shoulder on the hub taking a bearing against the end of the cylinder. The upper surface of the hub is constructed with a concentric recess or chamber, 5. Through the hub G of the lever the spindle E passes, and through the lower end of the cylinder, where a shoulder is formed to take a bearing upon the inner side of the lower end of the cylinder, and upon the outside a pin, d, is introduced through the projecting end of the spindle, so that, while the spindle is free to rotate, it is prevented from longitudinal or axial movement. The diameter of the spindle E is less than that of the internal diameter of the barrel, and into the space around the spindle a helical spring, D, is introduced, one end of which is engaged with the cylinder, say, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 4, the other end turned inward and engaged with the spindle, as at e, and in the usual manner of arranging the spring with spindles in this class of door-springs.

The spindle is constructed with a head, F, preferably round, and with one or more radial holes, f, therein, or may be of any suitable shape by which an instrument may be ap-.7o plied to turn the spindleyand beneath the head is a flange, G, adapted to set upon the hub O and cover the chamber therein. The spindle immediately under the flange is of cylindrical shape, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 3, which cylindrical shape occupies about onehalfof the depth of the chamber 2). Below this cylindrical portion the spindleis of polygonal or other irregular shape, as seen in Fig. 3, this shape extending to substantiallythe bottom of the chamber, but not so as to enter the hub below.

Into the recess or chamber 1) a collar, H, is introduced, through which is an opening'corresponding to the angular shape of the spindle at the bottom of the recess,and, as seen in Fig. 3, this collar is provided with one or more radially projecting lugs, h, which extend through corresponding vertical openings 15 in the walls of the chamber 1), so that the collar, 0 while it is free to .move up and down within the chamber, must partake of the rotation of the hub. When the collar is at the bottom of the recess, so as to engage the corresponding irregular-shaped portion of the spindle, then 5 the hub will be engaged with the spindle, as indicated in Fig. 3, so that a rotative moveinent of the hub will be imparted to the spindle; but when the collar H is raised, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 4, it passes above rco the irregular -shaped portion of the spindle and comes to the cylindrical portion, which free from the hub and may be turned independently of it or the hub of the spindle. To

the outer end of the lever B one end of a lever,

I, is hinged, as at Z, the other end being hinged to a bracket, L, as at m, the bracket being adapted to be rigidly fixed at the proper point and in the usual manner for this class of doorsprings.

' In applying thespring tothe door the collar H is moved in its chamber onto the cylindrical part of the spindle, so that the hub is free from the spindle; then, when the apparatus is properly applied to the door, the spindle E is turned by the application of any suitable instrument to its head to wind the spring to the desired tension, and when it is so wound the collar H is moved onto the irregularshaped portion of the spindle, thereby coupling the spindle with the hub, so as to hold the spring in its wound condition; then as the door is opened the spring will be further wound, and, when permitted, the reaction of the spring operating through the spindle and levers will close the doorthe usual action of this class of springs.

I have described the hub as arranged at the upper end of the barrel, and this is the better arrangement; but in some cases it may be desirable to invert the apparatus. In that case it will be understood that the hubis also reversed. Therefore the described lip-anddoWn movement of the collar is made with relation to the bottom of the recess in the hub irrespective of the position which the barrel may occupy.

From the foregoing it will be understood that I do not claim, broadly, a helical spring arranged within a cylindrical chamber upon a Vertical spindle, from which spindle a lever extends into connection with a second lever, which lever in its turn is fixed to a given point, and whereby the spring may operate door.

through the spindle and levers to close the Neither do I claim the construction of the operative parts of a door-spring, so that the power of the spring may be entirely removed or adjusted while the parts are substantially in place, the essential feature of my invention being the construction whereby the peculiar adjusting mechanism is applied and no longitudinal movement of the spindle necessary.

I claim- The combination of the barrel A, adapted for fixed attachment, the spindle E, extended longitudinally through the said barrel free for rotation, but fixed against longitudinal movement, a helical spring in said barrel around said spindle, one end engaged with the barrel and the other with the spindle, a lever, 13,0011- structed with a hub, O, surrounding said spindle, and constructed to be set into the end of the barrel, the hub of said lever constructed with a chamber, 12, upon its upper surface, with one or more openings, 13, through the Walls of said chamber, a portion of the spindle within the saidchainber being of irregular shape and the remainder of cylindrical shape of less diameter than the irregular shape, and a collar, H, within said chamber, having lugs extending radially therefrom through the openings in the walls of the chamber, the said collar constructed with an opening through it corresponding to the irregular shape of the spindle, so as to engage that portion of the spindle, but less in thickness than the depth of the chamber, and movable axially in said chamher from the irregular portion of the spindleto the cylindrical, or vice versa, with a lever,

I, one end of which is hung to the said lever B and the other to a bracket, L, adapted to be secured in a'fixed position, substantially as described.

JOHN H. SHAW. Witnesses:

FRANK W. WILLOUGHBY, Or'ro SoHmEPER. 

